jc-osms
I was born in 1960, I admit it and all the great TV shows of my youth that I remember naturally hail from the late 60's and early 70's. What a feast of programmes there seemed to be in those days, I just love it when one of the series I remember airs on TV again. Of course it was a time of escapism and fuelled by the success of the James Bond films, TV shows quickly picked up on variations of the spying game for our edification and delight.The twist with "The Wild Wild West" was that it depicted two secret service agents saving the USA and / or the world from the master-villain-of-the week, usually an unhinged megalomaniac, only it was set in the mid-1800's out in, naturally, the Wild West. Every week, the intrepid duo of Jim West and Artemis Gordon (Robert Conrad and Ross Martin) faced up to the threat of some century-ago Blofeld-equivalent and did so with style, humour and excitement.Conrad's Jim West loses no opportunity in getting his shirt off and displaying his six-pack and invariably gets romantically involved with some passing female in every "The Night Of..." adventure. He's the more all-action of the duo, gets into more scrapes and fights, indeed I believe Conrad did many of his own stunts in the show. Martin's Artemis Gordon ran back-up, usually intervening when his buddy was held captive as he usually was, donning flamboyant disguises to hoodwink the bad guys as he did so. He provided the show with a somewhat sardonic humorous slant, sort of Bones McCoy to Jim Kirk. Every episode saw one or both of them in a life-or-death situation which they always miraculously or ingeniously escaped, while the women in the show invariably play second-fiddle and are usually stereotypically pretty, helpless and adoring. With a distinctive theme tune and title sequence too, it was a great way to spend a fun hour back in the late 60's, indeed it's still a great way to spend a fun hour today.
neosildrake
This is probably one of the best TV-Shows of all times. The actors are brilliant, the stories range from petty crime to world domination schemes and every episode you ask yourself: "What have they come up with this time?" No matter how trivial the plot seems to be, even a simple murder-chase turns into a story filled with hidden deathtraps and very unique methods of killing people. This show has something for everyone and I never ever met a person who didn't like the show... after he/she decided to watch it despite it being from the 60s and not featuring CGI-monsters or tons of blood or sex.They don't make things like this anymore, which is a shame. Not that todays shows are boring but... they can hardly be called unique anymore. I think there's no show out there that can be compared to The Wild Wild West, simply because it has spread its plot-wings so wide. And they actually pulled off the impossible - uniting several genres like western, action, crime, sci-fi, comedy, mystery and supernatural. Never again did it get this wild in the west and it probably never will.The chemistry between the actors was a major factor in the success as were the various villains. I think Michael Dunn and Victor Buono were mentioned by nearly everyone who reviewed and they are right. While you root for Jim and Artie, you cannot help and at least slightly cheer for the eccentric Count Manzappi and especially the genius Dr. Miguelito Loveless too. While you do not want to meet them in a dark alley, you still kinda like them.The movie with Will Smith was terrible. Every character was so... un-WildWildWest-ish. A great disappointment for those who actually knew the series beforehand.To all out there who still haven't seen this: You missed out great TV history. get the DVDs and watch it!
Son_of_Mansfield
That is Robert Conrad and Ross Martin is his silly Q. Sure, Robert Conrad isn't much of an actor, but he looks the part and doesn't let those tight pants restrict his karate chop throwing. The real star of the show, despite only being in ten episodes, is Michael Dunn's maniacal Dr. Miguelito Loveless. He is one of the smartest villains in television, West's Moriarty, and like all great villains his only flaw is that he knows how smart he is. James West seduces all the women, Artemus Gordon dresses up as practically anything, and there is always that ten percent chance of seeing the little big man. It's pure pop entertainment that has aged surprisingly well.
wrudd
Wild, Wild West is one of those shows where so many things worked out well. The music and the opening credits (which come a couple of minutes in) are great. Conrad and Martin made a great team, it's a real chemistry. You feel that they really are good friends rather than just acting. They had humor and the episodes had plenty of action. Michael Dunn was fantastic. To have a villain who didn't even try to compete with Jim West physically was a brilliant idea. Dr Loveless was one of the great TV characters of all time. I really enjoyed the fact that they had him be cultured and was very polished a nice contrast to West's shoot-now-ask-questions-later attitude. I loved the show. Maybe one of the reasons I remember it so well is that it was taken off so early (due to an anti-violence swing at the network rather than ratings) so there is no long decline. You can see any episode and be entertained rather than having to check which season it was one in order to determine if it's worth your time or not.